4/13/2000
Book Reports
Being a product of public education myself, reading has always been difficult for me. Even
into my early 20's I felt if a story were worth telling, somebody would make a movie about
it. That way I'd learn everything there is to know about something by only spending about
90 minutes in a movie theater or in front of the TV. I actually had to start working in
Hollywood for the fact of life to hit me that every movie ever made required somebody to
read a book first. I then discovered from the preponderance of drug addicts and assorted
other jerks abounding in that town that whoever read the book didn't always retell the
story accurately on the screen.
The above philosophy will no doubt seem incredibly stupid to most anyone reading this, but
sad to say it applies to an outrageously high percentage of the US population. They just
don't read books. TV is too easy. So if you also suffer from the same "difficult to
read" ailment that I do, the only thing worse than reading itself, is to waste time
reading a worthless book. You now wasted both time and effort and gained NOTHING.
This is where Internet streaming audio programming helps considerably. Great shows like
Radio Liberty, Stan Solomon, Steel On Steel and others are always interviewing great book
authors. I blame Stanley Monteith with getting me to buy more books in one year than I had
purchased in the previous 10.
Hearing the authors describe what is presented in their books gives you good insight into
whether they will be worth the effort and expense to get and read. The process is also
much less colored than heeding reviews by critics who invariably misread the author's
intentions.
I will often make a brief quote in this column from current classics. Many columnists
naively assume the reader of the column has also read the book. I know that is not the
case. But I do recommend you make it a point to listen to good talk radio and find out
what authors are tackling the hot topics of the day. Even when you don't have the time to
tackle a 700-page dissertation by Rodney Stich (Defrauding America), an hour long
interview CAN give you tremendous insight into the topic.
By the time it reaches TV, it won't say or even mean the same. Even in Christian
circles, I've discovered crucial points in the original book, end up on the cutting room
floor, rather than the screen.
LateNiteLeroy
Webmaster at http://www.cmmutefaster.com
Contact directly at leroy@commutefaster.com
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